Just back from the June 1st sailing on the Grand Princess to Alaska

[granny6]

http://www.princess.com/excursion/exlistfordestination.page?portid=TA1&t=A&exType=S

[sunshine nana]

We booked the Grand for next May. Was there a covered pool? Was it warm? Thanks.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for the review.

 

Keith

[IdahoCruises]

There is a covered, heated pool. Although heated, may be a little cool for some....

[sherryf]

There is a covered, heated pool. Although heated, may be a little cool for some....

 

I've found on similar ships (Star & Golden) in Alaska, sometimes the outside pool is warmer than the inside pool. Check them both before choosing. I've also found the adult-only spa pool to be warmer most of the time.

[mammajamma2013]

Thanks for the review.

 

Can you tell me about the entertainment, specifically live bands and the type of music they play? I started a separate thread with this question but it's probably too general a question to just throuw out on the boards. :-)

[Eaglecw]

There is a covered, heated pool. Although heated, may be a little cool for some....

 

Yes the one of pools is covered and heated. The first sea they closed the pools because they became unsafe do to the rough seas, the pools turned into massive wave pools so they closed them for a time.

 

I didn't go into the pools, I was afraid that the naturalist would call out whale sighting over the ships PA system. LOL!!

Edited June 12, 2014 by Eaglecw

[Yingus]

Hi... Can you tell me about the 2 formal nights. How dressed up do people get. Is Khaki pants and a golf shirt enough for the guys? Or do they need a suit. Thanks.

[Mingus]

I didn't go into the pools, I was afraid that the naturalist would call out whale sighting over the ships PA system. LOL!!

 

A couple of years ago, we were on the Sapphire in the aft hot tubs when the naturalist announced a pod of humpback whales were going to pass by the ship.

There was about a dozen whales that came really close by, on either side of the ship.

There was a group of us, in bathing suits :eek: , going from one railing to the either side, to watch the whales swim by........of course, I didn't have my camera :(

[rdsqrl]

A couple of years ago, we were on the Sapphire in the aft hot tubs when the naturalist announced a pod of humpback whales were going to pass by the ship.

There was about a dozen whales that came really close by, on either side of the ship.

There was a group of us, in bathing suits :eek: , going from one railing to the either side, to watch the whales swim by........of course, I didn't have my camera :(

And what were the whales wearing? More importantly, did they have their cameras?

[Nana257]

Four of us will be on the Grand Princess on 9/7 as well. It sounds like a really wonderful trip. This will be our first time going to Alaska and I can't wait. The excursion that you went on sounds fabulous. Will have to convince the DH to spend that much on an excursion but it sounds like it would be worth it. I wonder what the weather will be like in September. We have no idea what to pack. Sorry for the rambling, I am so happy to read about our cruise, and now I am getting excited. Would love to go on an excursion to see whales. Thanks again for the review!!

[Mingus]

And what were the whales wearing? More importantly, did they have their cameras?

 

They were naked :eek:

[sherryf]

Hi... Can you tell me about the 2 formal nights. How dressed up do people get. Is Khaki pants and a golf shirt enough for the guys? Or do they need a suit. Thanks.

 

This is appropriate attire for Smart Casual nights. Formal nights should be dressier. Suit or sport coat is best, but at least a dress shirt and tie.

[Eaglecw]

Hi... Can you tell me about the 2 formal nights. How dressed up do people get. Is Khaki pants and a golf shirt enough for the guys? Or do they need a suit. Thanks.

 

I normally wear a dark suit on formal night. But this last cruise I didn’t wear the jacket and just wore a pair of tan pants, a nice sharp looking shirt and tie. My lovely wife wears a nice dress that she would wear to wedding. We don’t get super dressed up. Some people look better not dressed up. Khaki pants and Golf shirt might not get it.

 

One of my pet peeves is Hats in the dining room or anywhere inside the ship for that matter.

[FritzG]

Just off the same cruise and I have to agree with the original poster, the trip was pretty awesome. Great ports, beautiful scenery. And a great ship - anyone who finds issues with Grand Princess is nit-picky. The staff was wonderful - service uneven in anytime dining, some good some not so - and except for a couple of bad choices on my part, the food was very good. Had dinner in Crown Grill and Sabatini and both were excellent. Perfect weather except for some fog on the way back from Skagway (and the fog horn from the ship). All around an excellent vacation.

 

I'm glad you had a great time, but I take issue when you say anyone who finds issues is nit-picky. I don't consider the toilet flooding the bathroom to be nit-picky, nor do I consider the toilet not working at all several days to be nit-picky. You were lucky to have no issues, but several past posters had major issues.

[sunshine nana]

Thanks for the pool answers. We will not be going to Alaska but to

Astoria and Victoria, so it should be warm enough some days to swim.

[Woobstr112G]

Great review; thanks for taking the time to post.....:):):)

 

Bob

Edited June 13, 2014 by Woobstr112G

[Eaglecw]

Thanks for the pool answers. We will not be going to Alaska but to

Astoria and Victoria, so it should be warm enough some days to swim.

 

Sunshine Nana, if you make it to Astoria, sometimes the ships don’t make it up the Columbia River, tides wrong or heavy winds. Go to the Maritime Museum http://crmm.org/ and if you have time a trip out to Fort Clatsop http://www.nps.gov/lewi/planyourvisit/fortclatsop.htm

In Victoria if you have time go to the Royal BC Museum http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/

We’ve been to both of them many times.

[Becksmomma]

I'm so excited to be on the Grand in 4 weeks :) Reading all of these posts make me even more excited:) Can you tell me about the entertainment on the ship? :) sorry I posted a similar post a couple days ago, but maybe you didn't see it :) Thanks in advance :)

[bdjam]

I'm glad you had a great time, but I take issue when you say anyone who finds issues is nit-picky. I don't consider the toilet flooding the bathroom to be nit-picky, nor do I consider the toilet not working at all several days to be nit-picky. You were lucky to have no issues, but several past posters had major issues.

 

Wow - sorry to hit a nerve and of course a plumbing problem isn't a nit-pick. I wasn't referring to major issues. But while on the subject, Grand Princess isn't the only ship that's had plumbing problems in the past so inferring that the ship is inferior because of those kinds of issues isn't fair.

Edited June 13, 2014 by bdjam

[peety3]

Tracey Arm – The excursion boat pulled up to the ship docked at Juneau where we got on as we got off. What a great day.

 

Juneau – We were a little late getting back from Tracey Arm so most everyone had already gotten off the ship.

 

Victoria – we didn’t arrive at Victoria until 7pm. It was cold and windy; you could see your breath. We decided to stay on board and play trivia.

A couple of quick questions if I may:

 

In Juneau, how did the excursion->Grand Princess->dry land thing work? Did you have to get off the excursion boat onto the Grand? Was it less/no security because you'd been "secured" all morning? I might want to head back to the room to pick up extra camera gear between stops.

 

How late were you getting back? We've given ourselves a 30-minute window between Tracy Arm and our Juneau excursion; perhaps we should pick a different time.

 

Victoria - any customs/immigration delays on this stop?

[caribill]

We've given ourselves a 30-minute window between Tracy Arm and our Juneau excursion; perhaps we should pick a different time.

 

 

Excursion meeting time is usually 15-20 minutes before the stated departure time.

 

Is your 30-minute window ending at the meeting time or the departure time?

 

Excursions do not always return on time, so 30 minutes may not be enough between the two. If these are both Princess excursions, make sure the shore excursion desk knows of your short window between the excursions.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review.

[Eaglecw]

A couple of quick questions if I may:

 

In Juneau, how did the excursion->Grand Princess->dry land thing work? Did you have to get off the excursion boat onto the Grand? Was it less/no security because you'd been "secured" all morning? I might want to head back to the room to pick up extra camera gear between stops.

 

How late were you getting back? We've given ourselves a 30-minute window between Tracy Arm and our Juneau excursion; perhaps we should pick a different time.

 

Victoria - any customs/immigration delays on this stop?

 

In Juneau we got off the tour boat directly back onto the Grand on the tender platform, Starboard side midships. Yes, We had to go back though security when we got back onto ship. We got back to the Grand about 20 minutes late. We went and had lunch and then went into Juneau, most everyone had already gone ashore when we got off.

 

Victoria - We got there about 7pm and it only took 20 or 30 minutes for Canadian customs/immigration to clear the ship come ashore.

[Eaglecw]

I'm so excited to be on the Grand in 4 weeks :) Reading all of these posts make me even more excited:) Can you tell me about the entertainment on the ship? :) sorry I posted a similar post a couple days ago, but maybe you didn't see it :) Thanks in advance :)

 

That’s a good question. We took the “Back stage tour” on the Grand and it was pretty informative. All the stage productions in the theater are the same for the class of ship, there are 3 ships in the Grand class and they all have the same stage shows. They run the shows for 3 to 8 years to keep the costs down. It cost anywhere from $800k to $1.2 million when they change shows, this is paid by the cruisers (customers) so changing the shows every year would add a lot to the price of the cruise. Princess pays a royalty on all the songs that are played on the ship. The visiting entertainers change often so it’s hard to say who will be on the Grand from week to week. Steve Moris http://stevemoris.com/ was on the Grand the week we were on board, he was good. Garry Carson http://www.carsonentertainment.com/ was also on board, he does a comedy & magic show, he was also good. Uber Rossi http://www.dcptalent.com/artiste.php?artiste=172&uber-rossi did a comedy and acrobatics show, we didn’t see his show but people we talked to either like or didn’t like it, it was more of an adult show.